Bottle
Cutter Tutorial
(pdf)
This tool was most likely developed in South America, though I cannot find any
information about it online. I had heard about it being used by villagers near
Salta, Argentina many years ago, though never saw it. I learned how to make
it from Rajasthani artist Vishal Dhaybhai, who had figured it out from an online
photo that he believes came from Brazil. We introduced the tool to Eastern Bhutan
in 2013, where it is now widely used. See its use for plastic bottle weaving
below.

Rope
Winder
Made from scrap wood and a metal coat hanger, a rope winder can be made to facilitate
the manual winding of materials into ropes. This winder is made for three ply
ropes, but a winder can just as easily be made for 4 or more ply ropes. The
holes accomodating metal hooks need to be equidistant. I will work on a tutorial
for this tool and post it in the future.

Basic
Weaving Frame
This weaving frame was adapted from a Bhutanese backstrap loom frame for weaving
plastic bottle string (see Bottle
Cutter Tutorial to understand how to make bottle string). Plastic bottles
cannot be woven with a backstrap, since the string is curly and needs constant
tension. I made a simple heddle to lift half of the strings, and a shed stick
can be inserted to raise the other half. For tutorials on how to make weaving
heddles etcetera, I suggest visiting Laverne Waddington's excellent blog called
Backstrap Weaving.

Other Tutorials:

The following tutorials were developed to help reduce and reuse soft
plastic waste.

Plastic
Wrapper Cutting Tutorial (pdf) illustrates how to quickly cut any
kind of tube (plastic wrappers, plastic bags, even t-shirts and Tetrapak
juice boxes) into one long string. Then, the string can be wound into
rope (see rope winder images above) or woven into a textile.

The
Karma Cushion (pdf) was adapted from traditional Tibetan floor cushions
to utilize soft plastic waste as the fill. The cushion has inner walls
to help keep the fill from flattening with time. Karma cushions are being
made from old monks robes and plastic wrappers at monsateries in SE Bhutan
to manage plastic waste (monks robes are also made from synthetic materials)
and provide floor cushions for the community. For more information, you
can contact the Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative.
The Alternating Walls Cushion (pdf) was something I developed as an
easier way to sew the Karma Cushion. The compartments in this cushion
help prevent soft plastics from compacting too much over time.

T-shirt
Bags (pdf) are easy to make and provide an alternative to similarly-designed
plastic grocery bags. This is a commonly used technique that I learned
from Cheryl Lohrman of Create Plenty,
in Portland, Oregon.

Umbrella
Bag Tutorial (pdf) illustrates how to make a light, compact and water-proof
bag. I never leave home without mine. I came up with this design, but
it was inspired by the work of Casa Project,
in Tokyo, Japan.

The
Sari Bag (pdf) was designed to reuse old robes discard by Buddhist
monks in SE Bhutan. The robes, once made from cotton, are now made from
synthetic fabrics and are disposed of by burning, which is harmful to
the environment.